


Unfortunate Luck

by moretrash



Series: Dads of Marmora [41]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Nesting, Nests, None of this is graphic but just in case, Stitches, This didn't turn out nearly as whumpy as I wanted it to, stab wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 13:19:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15708042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: Keith accidentally gets hurt during training, but the pods are down. Thank goodness for his pack.





	Unfortunate Luck

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt:
> 
> "Another Keith whump would be awesome. Like one where he has to be in an cast or something. Like the pods are not working and it takes longer for him to heal. That would be interesting especially because how stubborn he is!"

Keith was accident prone. This a was fact known by anyone who had been around him for longer than an hour. 

Keith was reckless. He threw himself head first into anything without any regard for his own safety, and then questioned why he was injured. The first time Ulaz had been witness to this behavior, he had had to have a serious talk with Antok and Kolivan about Keith’s safety in training.

“That new recruit is endlessly reckless. He will break protocol, at this rate.” Ulaz had said. 

“He already has. Several times.” Kolivan said, his voice betraying his frustration. Ulaz sighed in worry and shook his head.

“Train him more. Keep an eye on him. I am getting tired of treating broken bones of his due to his reckless behavior. Plus, he worries me sometimes. He seems too… upset.” Ulaz had said.

Did that conversation lead to Keith becoming less reckless, less accident prone? Absolutely not. If anything, it just caused those traits to amplify by leaps and bounds. Keith’s pack just wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap and hold him in the nest to keep their precious kit safe, but there was no possible way to deny Keith’s spirit. He would just find a way to get around their rules put in place to keep him safe. 

-

Keith also liked training. Maybe he liked it a little too much, actually, considering that Antok regularly had to throw Keith over his shoulder and carry him out of the training rooms before the kit collapsed in exhaustion, though it also wasn’t uncommon that Keith collapsed in the middle of training. 

At the blade of marmora, there was always a multitude of other operatives there to witness his collapse, and they worked together to make sure Keith was safe. One would sit next to Keith with a bottle of water and a snack for Keith for when he awoke, while others would go to find the nearest medic or training room guard to alert them of the situation. 

At the castle of lions, people hardly ever realized that Keith collapsed at all. He would wake up and go about his day as if he hadn’t just spent fifteen minutes unconscious on the floor of the training room. No one would be wiser to his predicament unless he told them, which was rare, or if they saw him unconscious on the training room floor when they searched for him.

However, since he had joined his pack, Keith’s training habits had become a lot healthier. He would stop when he was tired and could often be found lounging on Antok’s back until lunch if that was the case. He never trained in the afternoons, taking the time for his own personal enjoyment. He was no longer training himself to the point of collapse, but his training technique was still nowhere near safe. 

Keith always held his blades a little too close to his body for Antok’s liking. One wrong move could result in anything from a scrape to a serious stab wound. It stressed out Antok far more when the position of the blade was closer to important arteries and body parts. He just didn’t want his kit to get seriously injured. 

Antok never wanted his kit to get injured at all, if he was honest with himself. He always lamented when his kit would come back from missions injured. Though they were hardly ever serious, and Ulaz never took long in fixing the wound, it still upset Antok to see his kit injured. At Keith’s age in Galra terms, some kits would cry and scream for hours over the slightest little scrape of the knee, yet Keith had tried to brush off his scar from the trials as a minor injury when he had first gotten it, despite the fact that it was deep and bloody. 

-

Today, Keith was training in the smallest training room of the blade of marmora. There were only a few other people in the room, engaging in hand to hand combat with one another. 

Keith, however, wanted to practice his stealth. 

He wasn’t the best at stealth, considering how loud and short-tempered he was and how impulsive he was. Antok had put emphasis on his stealth training in his training schedule, though the man had never said how to execute the training, so keith assumed it was fair game.

Today, Keith had decided to go and try to sneak up on all of the other blades, to see if he could surprise them. Later, Thace would point out that it was a very kit way of training, which was good news for their attempts to get him to accept his kit urges. 

Keith drifted along the edges of the training room, avoiding the sparring blades. He snuck up on one and grabbed onto their arm. The blade laughed and used the tip of their tail to tickle Keith’s stomach until the kit was squealing with laughter and pulling away.

“A very good attempt, kit. Dare I say you would surprise any blade that was not used to random stealth training. I suggest acting less like you are trying to not be seen. I saw you in my peripheral vision sneaking around.” They said. Keith beamed with the praise, which was another thing everyone noticed. Keith glowed under praise, so they tried to give him praise whenever possible. It was truly a gift to see how happy Keith would get with a simple ‘good job’.

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.” Keith said. It was another thing Keith had been getting better at, taking and utilising criticism. Before the blades, he would do the exact opposite of what people advised him to do purely out of spite. When he had got to the blades, Keith had been thrown for a loop when he heard the criticism that was purely for him and his safety, and he started to take the criticism into account. 

Keith trotted away and wandered around until he decided on another blade to practice his stealth training on. He snuck up to the blade and repeated the action of grabbing onto their arm to catch them off guard. The blade jumped and whirled around, grinning when they saw Keith.

“Very good, young one!” The other blade said brightly. They were tall, towering over Keith by a significant margin, though that was the way it was for many of the blades. Keith was naturally shorter than the other blades. Keith was about to respond when he saw the blade’s eyes widen and try to shove Keith aside. Keith didn’t take the hint, staying firm in his spot until he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down, his eyes widening when he saw one of the blade lodged in his side.

“Young one, are you alright? I tried to get you to move!” The blade said, leaning down to examine the wound. Blood was starting to pool around the edges of the wound, staining his shirt.

“Yeah, I should’ve listened to you.” Keith said. He whimpered and clutched at the wound, a shrill whine leaving him. The blade looked over and growled lowly at the blade who had thrown the knife. 

The other blade was wide-eyed, looking horrified. They hadn’t meant to throw it at Keith, they had been practicing on a dummy and misaimed.

“I am going to take you to Ulaz, okay, young one?” The original blade said, gently leading Keith out of the room. Keith started letting out loud, piercing whines that were intended to call for his pack. His whines only kept getting louder, being mixed with soft wails of pain as the pair neared the medical bay.

“Shh, settle down, young one. We are almost at the medical bay, and you will be able to see Ulaz, your pack member. Everything will be okay.” The blade said, their voice soft to try and soothe Keith as they entered the medical bay. 

-

The sound of his kit’s wails and whines drew Ulaz out of his office the moment he became aware of the sound. He frowned when he saw Keith, helping him onto a bed.

“Oh, kit, how did this happen?” Ulaz asked worriedly, examining the wound.

“He was practicing his stealth training, when a blade was misaimed at him.” The blade explained. Ulaz looked over and smiled gently.

“Thank you, for bringing my kit here.” He said.

“It is not problem. I hope he gets well.” The blade said, leaving the room. Ulaz turned back to Keith, biting his lip and looking over at the pods.

“Well, I would usually put you in a pod for a little bit, but they’re currently down for maintenance. So, I will have to stitch up the wound instead.” Ulaz said, watching as Keith went sheet white and shook his head desperately. “Yes, kit. Do not worry, I will be as quick as possible.” Ulaz said, removing the knife. It was a struggle to keep Keith still as he stitched up the wound after making sure it didn’t hit any major organs. He kept trying to squirm away.

After he was done, Ulaz straightened up and briefly groom Keith’s hair to soothe him.

“Shh, my kit. I am going to grab some pain medicine for you and take you to Krolia and your siblings, okay? I have to work a while longer, and then I will join you.” Ulaz said. Keith sniffled and looked up, having started crying at one point in the process.

“Promise?” He asked softly. It was rare that Keith ever ask for something in that fashion, and it was impossible for Ulaz to deny him.

“While I can not promise how soon I will be able to leave, I do promise that I will come spend time with you.” Ulaz said. He picked Keith up, extremely cautious of his injury, and grabbed the bottle of pain medicine that was the perfect mix for Keith’s mixed heritage. He carried Keith to their nest, smiling when he saw Krolia. 

“What in the universe happened?” Krolia asked worriedly, meeting them halfway across the nest. Regris popped his head up from where he had been napping, making a noise of sleepy confusion. Ulaz slipped Keith into Krolia’s arms, watching as Keith let out a protesting whine from the lack of warmth until he was settled comfortably in Krolia’s arms.

“Keith was accidentally stabbed. The pods are down for maintenance right now, so I simply stitched it up. I still have to work, though. His pain medication should wear off in a few vargas, so it would be best to get him to take more. I’d say you should check the stitches if he moves a lot to make sure they don’t break open, but try not to let him move too much or too suddenly.” Ulaz said. Krolia nodded and held Keith close, laying him down next to Regris.

“Alright, I will.” Krolia said. “Try and sleep, kit. Your brother was doing just that, as Acxa is well on her way to that.” She said. Acxa was mostly asleep, almost disappearing under a large mound of blankets. Keith watched Ulaz leave and let out a short, dismayed wail.

“Shh, Ulaz will be back at some point, bro. He is not leaving permanently.” Regris said. It was a well-known fact that Keith tended to cling to Ulaz when he was injured. He hated being separated from the lavender-colored Galra during the times he was injured or sick. 

“Your brother is right, kit. Ulaz will be here as soon as he can.” Krolia said. She laid down and let Keith nestle up to her, yawning as she checked on the three kits one last time before she fell asleep.

-

When Thace entered the nest, he narrowly avoiding waking the kits with his coos. 

Krolia was asleep, with Keith asleep on top of her. Regris was tucked against one of her sides, asleep, and Acxa was tucked into the other side, fast asleep. They were all under a pile of blankets, most likely at Keith’s insistence since he got cold easily. Thace watched as Keith stirred with a whimper, wriggling out from under the blankets and taking the pain medication that Ulaz had left. 

“What happened?’ Thace asked worriedly. Keith sleepily explained what had happened, nestling against Thace’s warm body. Thace smiled and gently rubbed Keith’s back, careful of the nearby injury. He urged Keith to lay back down, frowning when Keith whimpered and shifted towards Thace.

“It hurts.” He said miserably.

“I know, kit. The pain medication you took will kick in within a few minutes. Ulaz designed it so that it would kick in quickly.” Thace said, chuckling when he saw Keith’s ears perk up at the mention of Ulaz’s name. 

“Ulaz?” Keith asked, the name more meaning ‘is he going to be here soon?’. Thace sighed softly and ruffled Keith’s hair.

“He is still working, kit.” Thace said. Keith pouted and whined, causing Thace to scoop him into his arms. “Why don’t we go visit Kolivan? His office is rather quiet today.” Thace said. “Plus, it is close to the medical bay in case you need to visit Ulaz.” Thace said. Keith nodded and leaned his head on Thace’s chest, purring as the bright-colored Galra rumbled to him as they walked. 

Thace nudged the door to Kolivan’s office open without knocking. Though it was normal for pack members not to knock, it would always confuse Keith. To him, it was just polite to knock before entering someone’s office or room. 

Kolivan looked up and smiled when he saw Thace and Keith, his smile turning to a worried frown when he heard Keith’s pained whimpers. Thace explained what had happened, setting Keith in Kolivan’s lap. Kolivan smiled and held Keith securely on his lap, his grip firm enough to keep him from accidentally slipping off, but loose enough that Keith could easily slip free if he wanted to go rest in the nest that was made in the corner of the room. Thace remained for a few more minutes, watching Keith purr as he made himself comfortable against Kolivan, before leaving.

Kolivan noticed, after a few minutes, that Keith had unraveled his braid and was practicing his braiding skills. He didn’t mind, of course, it wasn’t too distracting and kept Keith occupied. If it was anyone else, he would have gotten irritated, but he was a lot softer with his pack and kits. It was common for someone to walk into Kolivan’s office to talk with him, only to find Keith happily playing with Kolivan’s hair. Kolivan would basically ignore the fact that Keith was even there. 

-

Keith tensed when he felt some stray pieces of hair tickle his nose. He buried his face in the crook of his elbow, a high-pitched sneeze leaving him. It was such a sudden noise that it made Kolivan jump and nearly drop his datapad. Keith felt pain flare up in his side from his body jumping briefly due to the sneeze. He let out a pained sob as he buried his face in Kolivan’s shoulder. 

Kolivan gently pushed Keith’s shirt up to check the stitches to make sure the stitches hadn’t been disturbed, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that they were completely fine. 

“Dad, it hurts!” Keith whimpered. 

“I know, kit. I know it hurts.” Kolivan said, carefully standing up to carry Keith to the medical bay. When he arrived, he gently laid Keith on a bed as Ulaz hurried over.

“What happened here?” Ulaz asked, grooming Keith’s hair gently in an attempt to soothe his sobs. 

“He sneezed. It aggravated his wound, I’m assuming.” Kolivan said. Keith nodded and clung to Ulaz with a choked, pained sob. Ulaz gently sat Keith up against the pillows, raising his shirt enough to examine the wound.

“Good news is, it didn’t disturb the stitches in any way. I think I’ll just give him a stronger pain killer for right now and see how that does. The pods should be up and running in a few vargas, so we can put him in one. It pains me so much to see my kit in pain.” Ulaz said. He went into a back room and came back with small, spherical pill that he handed to Keith. “This has a rather unpleasant aftertaste, and that’s saying a lot if I’m warning you.” Ulaz said, handing it to Keith. Keith made a face but swallowed the pill, having long since learned that there was no way he’d win an argument about whether or not he was going to take a certain medication. However, Keith made a confused face and looked at Ulaz with wide eyes as he swallowed it.

“That tastes like apples!” Keith exclaimed in excitement. Ulaz looked bewildered.

“What is an apple? That pill has some of the worst aftertastes I’ve ever had.” Ulaz said. Keith grinned widely.

“An apple is a fruit from earth. Maybe Galrans have different taste bud that make it taste bad? But it tastes so good to me! It’s super sweet but not too sweet and kind of sour and it’s amazing!” Keith said. Ulaz looked skeptical, but he nodded, humming quietly as he helped Keith up and urged him back into Kolivan’s arms.

“I just have a few more reports to finish up, then I will join you.” Ulaz promised. Keith nodded and leaned against Kolivan as the leader of the blades led him back to the nest. Krolia and Thace were talking quietly as Acxa and Regris bounced around the room in a play fight. Though Keith longed to join in on their fun, he knew he would be barred from doing so because of his injury. Krolia looked over when she heard the door open, grinnin when she saw Keith.

“Hello, kit!” She said brightly. Keith looked over and made a soft, purr-like ‘merp’ sound, climbing into Krolia’s lap and latching onto the longer piece of her hair. Krolia held Keith in her lap, looking on with a knowing look in her eyes as she watched Keith look longingly at his playing siblings. She grabbed a datapad and held it up in Keith’s vision as she turned on a Galran TV show that Keith was watching. Keith brightened up and settled down to watch. Thace glanced at what he was watching and smiled.

“Ah, yes, that is a classic. A comedy, though I suppose the monumentally funny jokes are lost on you if you didn’t grow up in the empire or if you don’t know much about Galran history.” He said. Keith looked over and smiled, looking back at the screen. 

-

Ulaz came in about half an hour later, though Keith only knew that since it was one full episode of his show later. He brightened when he saw Ulaz, getting up and darting over. Ulaz smiled and stopped him, picking him up and sitting down. It would always amaze Keith how easily his pack could pick him up and carry him. 

“Settle down now, kit. We don’t want your wound to be aggravated, do we?” Ulaz asked. Keith shook his head and yawned, shaking his hair out of his eyes. 

“Ulaz?” He said softly.

“Yes, kit?” Ulaz asked, looking down at him. 

“My head hurts.” Keith whimpered. Ulaz nodded and draped a blanket over him and over his head to block out light. 

“That is a common side effect of the pain medication I gave you. But, the good news is, the pods will be up and running in about 45 doboshes.” Ulaz said. Keith nodded and peaked up at him.

“How long a doosh compared to a minute?” He asked. Ulaz thought for a moment, biting his lip as he did the calculations in his head.

“One dobosh is roughly 51 human seconds.” Ulaz said. Keith brightened and relaxed, burying his face in Ulaz’s shoulder to further block out the lights of the room. He latched onto the white tuft of hair on Ulaz’s head, as he was known to do, whimpering at the sounds of Acxa and Regris’ excited shouts. 

“Acxa, Regris, quiet down please. You brother has a headache.” Thace called out. Almost immediately, the two kits were pressing close to the blanket-covered lump that was pressed against Ulaz. Acxa peeked under the blankets and smiled, offering Keith a handful of hairbands and clips. She had been growing her hair out lately and it now reached just about mid-neck, and Keith enjoyed putting it into different ridiculous styles when he was distracted. Keith peeked out of the blankets and reached out, playing with Acxa’s hair and styling it. Regris wrapped his tail around Keith’s waist and made a noise of excitement when Antok entered the room. He had been in charge of dealing with the blade that had injured Keith, and had therefore been late arriving back to the nest. He had to-go boxes of food for everyone stacked up, their names printed on top in Antok’s slightly messy handwriting to tell them apart. He passed around the meals as he sat down, laughing when he suddenly had Keith pressing between him and Ulaz, devouring his food with a grin. 

“Hungry, were you?” Antok asked good-naturedly. Keith nodded, swallowing his food before opening his mouth to talk.

“Yeah.” Keith said, going back to his food and pausing when he suddenly had a straw pressed to his lips.

“Take a drink, kit. Finish your food, and then we can go put you into a pod.” Ulaz said. Keith took a few sips of his drink before going back to his food, slowing down with how fast he was eating. Ulaz nodded in approval, going back to his own plate of food. Keith burrowed back under the blankets when he was done, still having a headache. He rested his head on Kolivan’s lap and whined in frustration when he was picked up, blankets and all, to go to the medical bay. Though he was grateful for the fact that whoever had picked him up had gathered his blankets as well, for the lights in the halls were even brighter than the ones in their nest, he wasn’t happy about being abruptly removed from his comfortable spot. 

“Shh, kit, settle down.” Antok said, telling Keith that the largest member of his pack was the one currently carrying him. Keith whined when he felt his painkillers wearing off, the pain from his injury returning. Though it was still dulled by the remaining amounts of painkillers in his system, it wasn’t comfortable at all. He let out a whine that perfectly communicated to his pack just how much he hated his situation. 

“I know, kit, I know. We are almost there.” Ulaz said. He relaxed when they entered the medical bay, going to grab a pod suit for Keith. It had been a struggle to find a suit that would fit the smallest blade, but they had found something that was close enough to his size. Keith shook his head stubbornly when he was offered the suit. At first, Ulaz misinterpreted the head shake as Keith wanting privacy to get changed, so he pulled the privacy curtain around the kit. After several minutes with no sign of the kit, Ulaz rattle the curtains to alert Keith of his incoming presence before slipping behind the curtain. He was surprised to find Keith still fully dressed.

“Why aren’t you changing, kit? You know you could have asked us for assistance.” Ulaz said.

“I don’t want to get into the pods.” Keith whispered. Ulaz paused in confusion, tilting his head. 

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well… I want to get better and not be in pain and all, but the pods make me feel weird. I have no idea how much time has passed and I’m always super cold when I leave one.” Keith said. Ulaz nodded a bit.

“Well, I can assure you your time in the pod will not exceed 2 vargas, and we will be ready with your favorite heated blanket when you get out. How does that sound?” Ulaz asked. Keith nodded and let Ulaz help him into the pod suit, hesitantly getting into the pod as watching as Ulaz closed it, immediately putting him under the influence of sleep. 

-

“Antok, can you go get Keith’s heated blanket? We agreed that we would have that for him when he got out.” Ulaz said. Antok nodded and left the room, coming back ten minutes later with the heated blanket.

“I forgot it was being washed, so I went to our nest first.” Antok said. The blanket in question, plain red in color, was draped in his arms. His ears pinned back when he regarded Keith, looking much too small in the large pod. 

“Is he gonna be okay?” Regris asked. 

“Of course he will be, kit. He wasn’t too badly injured.” Kolivan said, pulling Regris against his side. 

-

Antok turned on Keith’s blanket to heat up when Ulaz announced that there was only five minutes left in the pod cycle.

Exactly five minutes after Ulaz had said that, the pod opened with a hiss and Keith stumbled out, straight into Antok’s steadying grip. The blanket was settled around his shoulders and Antok tucked him close to his warm body, checking to make sure the injury had healed. Seeing that it was, Antok nodded in satisfaction and picked Keith up.

“Are you feeling better, Kit?” Antok asked. Keith blinked blearily and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Keith said softly. He pulled the blanket tight around him, purring when his pack gathered around to nuzzle him, happy that he was safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr legendary-marmorans!


End file.
